You do not need a full view of the sky to get a solid GPS fix. Years ago this was not true when there were few satellites in orbit. An external antenna is not necessary if you have the unit outside with a partial view of the sky.

not really more a feature of teh latest generation of receivers, SIRF star 3 chipsets are much more sensitive then previous chip sets.

Dave

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The new garmin stuff is awesome , I have a 740s that is flush mounted in a 3/4 inch thick hardwood nav station. No external antennae , and it locks in seconds. I thought sure I was going to need one. Amazing , there is solid wood all around it and it works fine .

The 'included' transducer is often the transom mount... they several types including through-hull and inside mount.

You can epoxy the transom mount transducer and it will blissfully fire through the hull just like the more expensive through hull transducer.

BTW,

Anyone have any clue what the difference is between the 540s and the 541s?

According to the Garmin documentation, the shoot through hull transducer will only work on solid fiberglass with no core. Was that your experience? I'd love to avoid trying to find a place for the transom mount transducer.

Hi
I bought the unit some months ago but got the transom transducer though. I'm picking up the in-hull one tomorrow and I'll be fitting it over the weekend. I am planning on installing it on the v-berth.
Any pros, cons or suggestions??

The wax would work, whT we do is use a regular transom mount cheap.transducer and lay.a.nice thick.layer 1/2 in of 4200 in the hull in a ideal location make sure there are no air bubbles and gently squish the transducer down into it. On a solid non cored.hull it works and reads perfectly. also works good on power boats and seems to work better at speed than a transom.mount btw we hVe used both.units.bo th are.great love our 541

The wax would work, whT we do is use a regular transom mount cheap.transducer and lay.a.nice thick.layer 1/2 in of 4200 in the hull in a ideal location make sure there are no air bubbles and gently squish the transducer down into it. On a solid non cored.hull it works and reads perfectly. also works good on power boats and seems to work better at speed than a transom.mount btw we hVe used both.units.bo th are.great love our 541

Keep in mind that in order for this method to work a) you need to find a suitable location where the hull has very little deadrise; and 2) the hull must not be cored. With a cored hull you would need to carefully cut out a patch of the inner skin, dig out the core, and replace it with solid epoxy or polyester.

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